5K Santa Dash at Lough Boora

Come along for fresh air and a nice crisp run in Lough Boora Discovery Park on Sunday 1st December. Santa will be dropping in for a quick visit after!

 

5K Santa Dash

at

Lough Boora Discovery Park

Sunday December 1st at 11 a.m.

 

Come see Santa dropping in on his sleigh

Refreshments after in Teach Lea

Runners €10 Families €20

 

This is the fifth year of the Lough Boora Santa Dash hosted by Ferbane AC which is on this Sunday 1st Dec @ 11am. Like previous years the 5k race will start and finish nearby the bike hire facility.

Santa will be arriving after the race and handing out some sweet treats to the kids!

 

Entry to the race is on the day only and costs €10 per adult; and family entry is €20. All proceeds go to the set-up cost of Ferbane AC’s annual marathon and 5k which is on the 29th March, 2020.

 

Any further queries – please contact:

John Bennett  087 6280160

Paul Buckley  086 3248086

Birdwatching walking tour led by Ecologist at Lough Boora

Bord na Móna ecologist, Dr. Alex Copland, is leading a winter birdwatching walk at the Lough Boora Discovery Park this Saturday, November 23rd.

The walk will start from the thatched bird hide at Boora at 11am and finish at about 1pm. It is a gentle walk on the footpath network and is suitable for families and beginners.

The walk will focus on birds that arrive in Ireland for the winter – in particular, wetland birds such as Whooper Swan, Wigeon and Golden Plover. It will also keep an eye open for winter thrushes (Redwing and Fieldfare) as well as some commoner birds that are usually easier to see in winter, such as flocks of Chaffinches or Reed Buntings.

The birdlife guide, Alex Copland, points out: “If we’re lucky, we’d hope to spot one or two of the scarcer birds that are regularly found in the Discovery Park, such as Little Egret, Hen Harrier or Grey Partridge.”

The tour will finish around 1pm so everyone can warm up with a hot-chocolate or mug of tea at the Discovery Park café!

Participants should bring clothing suitable for the weather conditions (as we’ll be outdoors!) as well as suitable footwear (wellies or walking boots). Winter birds don’t mind the weather too much, so everyone needs to wrap up against the wet and/or cold. As we’ll be following the tracks and trails around the Discover Park conditions underfoot should be easy enough, but strong, waterproof footwear is still recommended.

About your guide:

The walk will be led by Dr. Alex Copland, an ecologist with Bord na Móna based at Boora. Alex has been watching and conserving birds at Boora and on Bord na Móna’s wider cutaway peatlands sites for over 15 years and has recorded over 100 different bird species on cutaway peatlands (although we’re not expecting to see all these on Saturday!).

The tour is operated as part of the Offaly Naturalists Field Club Programme and is free of charge.

Please Note: the date for this tour has been brought forward a week from the printed programme.

Public meeting on future of Lough Boora Sculpture Park

Public meeting on the future development of Lough Boora Sculpture Park

Friday, November 29th, 2019 at 7pm

St Joseph’s Community Centre,

Frankford, Kilcormac, Co. Offaly, Ireland.

You are invited to a public meeting on the future development of Lough Boora Sculpture Park. There will be a presentation of the results of a Lough Boora Development workshop earlier that day entitled, ‘Deep Mapping Lough Boora Sculpture Park’, that the public can contribute to, comment on, and share in.

Workshop outcome to be discussed:

Deep Mapping Lough Boora Sculpture Park

Reclaim  | Rehabilitate  | Restore  | Regenerate

The daytime invite-only workshop will discuss the topics of art, post peat restoration and carbon futures. A range of artists, arts administrators and ecologists will be attending with members of the community to talk about three future options. Information on the workshop is below.

The daytime workshop is co-hosted by Tim Collins, Reiko Goto and Deirdre O’Mahoney, with significant support and input from Thomas Egan of Bord na Móna.

 

The first generation of artists at Lough Boora reflected upon the large-scale excavation, material and transport infrastructure of the peat extraction operation. In essence, that body of work reflects a social appreciation of the labour and scale of mechanization that enabled the industrial harvest of peatland.

Currently, the focus is upon a brown to green challenge, the art and science of reclamation, rehabilitation, restoration, and regeneration that needs to occur as Bord na Móna moves from resource extraction to renewable energy and new forms of land stewardship.

Another way to think about this is, the first generation of artists were able to benefit from the economic engine of peat production and the support of visionary land managers and an open-minded workforce accustomed to large scale design and construction.

The next generation will need to secure a relationship within the paradigm of ecosystem services and the global focus on carbon sequestration. The challenge is to find a way to make artwork that opens a space to imagine new social, ecological and economic relationships between the Boora lands and proximate local communities.

To confirm your attendance or find out more please call 057 913 5445